Dear Park Tudor Community,

I am excited to announce that Park Tudor has been awarded a $12 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc. through its Marion County K-12 Private Schools Initiative. This is one of 34 large-scale implementation grants being awarded through phase 3 of the initiative, which is designed to help strengthen the academic achievement of students in Indianapolis and improve their prospects for success after high school. Lilly Endowment is making grants to public schools in Indianapolis through a separate, complementary initiative.

Park Tudor’s phase 3 initiative, The Discovery Center, will redefine K–12 STEM education through experiential, interdisciplinary, and inquiry-based learning designed to develop curiosity, critical thinking, and noncognitive skills essential for academic and lifelong success. This state-of-the-art facility will feature advanced science labs, maker spaces, robotics and technology hubs, and multimedia studios in which students will participate in hands-on discovery, collaborative research, mentorship, and STEM-focused community outreach. The Center will also serve as a hub for public health education and cross-disciplinary innovation and offer innovative programming and curricula that deepen engagement, strengthen inquiry-based practices, and broaden access to high-impact learning experiences. Ultimately, The Discovery Center will establish Park Tudor as a leader in cutting-edge, real-world STEM education.

This grant is in addition to the $477,500 award Park Tudor received from Lilly Endowment as part of phase 2 of the Private Schools Initiative, which is funding the Health Horizons program. Health Horizons is designed to expand Park Tudor’s commitment to Project-Based Learning (PBL) by using public health as an interdisciplinary theme that links academic study with real-world challenges and deepens experiential, hands-on, inquiry-rich instruction across all grade levels. Through this initiative, the school reimagines the structure and purpose of learning in ways that are both deeply relevant to students’ lives and unifying across divisions, transforming PBL from a teaching method into a school-wide philosophy of relevant and connected learning. Once completed, The Discovery Center will house the Health Horizons program.

Park Tudor is deeply grateful to Lilly Endowment Inc. for a transformative $12 million grant supporting The Discovery Center. We also celebrate the many schools across Marion County that received funding. Lilly Endowment’s generosity strengthens not only our institutions but the entire educational community in Indianapolis, helping all students thrive.

As you can imagine, preparing our grant proposal required significant effort from many members of our faculty, staff, and Board. I would like to thank everyone who contributed their time and talent to this effort, especially Abby Ford, Director of Development; Eli Salatich, Health Horizons Director and Science Faculty; and Aman Brar, Vice Chair of the Board of Directors for their tireless dedication and commitment throughout the entire grant initiative.

Please join me in celebrating this wonderful achievement for Park Tudor!

My best,

Chris Front
Head of School